Rudy Gay’s Shoulder Cleared for Full-Contact Hoops

Six months following surgery on his left shoulder, doctors have given Rudy Gay the green light to play against others in full-contact basketball games. From USA Today: “I’ve been shooting for about 2½ months now. Shooting and dribbling and trying to see if I can play some games soon,’ he says. Gay on Monday was in Pensacola, Fla., where he was cleared by his doctor to resume full contact. Still, he doesn’t feel like his old self yet. ‘It’s a surgery, so I’m always going to feel a little different. It’s getting back. It’s no weaker. It’s getting stronger,’ says Gay, who missed the final 28 games of the regular season. Gay could only watch as the Grizzlies got the first playoff series win in franchise history by upsetting the No. 1 seed San Antonio Spurs. The Grizzlies advanced to the Western Conference semifinals, where they were eliminated in seven games by the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was tough to watch, but a necessary step. ‘We needed to go through that. We’re a young team,’ Gay says. ‘Going through that adversity helped us.’”